The new Rs 5000 and 2000 notes are being called 'high-security' notes because of several features which will make them hard to be copied.

Two days after the RBI released Rs 2000 notes, a vegetable vendor in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru district was duped by unidentified men who handed him a colour photocopy of the note in return for the purchases made. The vendor, Ashok, only noticed the con while he was tallying the day’s collection.

Circle Police inspector of Chikkamagalur city, G Krishnaraj, said that a helper at Ashok’s stall accepted the note after the con men bought vegetables worth Rs 1700. Police registered a cheating case under section 420 of Indian Penal Code (IPC). The new Rs 500 and 2000 notes are being called ‘high-security’ notes because of several features which will make them hard to be counterfeited.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, announced that old currency notes of higher denominations would no longer be legal tender. The move, according to the government, was made to tackle the problem of black money and counterfeit currency in the country.

Banks across the country have been directed to stay open for longer hours so that people can swap their old currency notes with the new ones. However, long queues and chaos outside banks and ATMs have become a familiar sight after banks reopened on Thursday.

The ATMs were made operational from Friday and a maximum of Rs 4000 can be withdrawn everyday. However, due to different dimensions of the new currency notes, the ATM machines need to be recalibrated and cannot dispense them as of now. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addressed the media on Saturday and said that it will take about 21 days to streamline ATM operations.